Owner Comments:
Middlesex London and Westminster Series DH #99
Obverse: The front of the Dyers Hall, Little Elbow Lane, Dowgate Hill DYERS HALL, the Arms of the Company separating the two words. Ex: BUILT 1770
Reverse: The Arms of London and Westminster impaled and surmounted by a mural crown. Edged with a border of small quatrefoils LONDON AND WESTMINSTER PENNY 1797
Edge: I PROMISE TO PAY ON DEMAND THE BEARER ONE PENNY X
Diesinker: Benjamin Jacobs
Manufacturer: Thomas Prattent
Weight: 24.23g
Rarity: Rare
The Worshipful Company of Dyers are one of the original 12 great Livery Companies. They were incorporated by King Edward IV. Their first hall was destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire of London. The Company then built the hall depicted on the token in Little Elbow Lane. The hall was replaced by a new hall in 1840. The Dyers are now mainly a charitable institution. The Dyers are one of 2 Companies, along with the Crown, to keep swans on the Thames.
Thomas Prattent was a draftsman, engraver, printer and print seller in London. He was the co-author with William Denton of the “The Virtuoso’s Companion and Coin Collector’s Guide” and issued his own tokens. This is one from his series of ‘London and Westminster Pennies', 33 tokens that featured 32 well known London buildings - mainly Guild-halls, Hospitals and Palaces. He issued them in quite small numbers - plus the dies that James engraved were quite brittle and many broke before the required number was struck. It is possible that he made this series of pennies for the London coin dealer Matthew Denton. The coins were primarily sold to collectors but in these times of desperate need for copper change they often got into circulation alongside the regal copper and other genuine tradesmen's tokens.
Atkins: Middlesex 130
Numismatic Auctions #66, 11 January 2022